The present invention relates to a continuous manufacturing apparatus of a fiber reinforced foamed resin formed piece for manufacturing foamed resin formed pieces used in various applications including sleepers and building materials, or similar formed pieces, and a manufacturing method utilizing such apparatus.
As a continuous manufacturing method of a foamed piece reinforced with long fibers, generally, a manufacturing method as disclosed, for example, in the Japanese Patent Publication Sho. 52-2421 is known. In this manufacturing method, as shown in FIG. 17 and FIG. 18, multiple long fibers a are arranged parallel and moved continuously, and a foam-curing resin solution is sprayed on the way to the long fibers a to impregnate. Next, the long fibers a impregnated with the foam-curing resin solution are led into a forming passage d of formed piece c shaped in a square cross section by four endless belts b. A bundle e of the long fibers impregnated with the foam-curing resin solution is foamed and cured while passing through this forming passage d. As a result, a long foam formed piece f in a square cross section is manufactured continuously.
In the manufacturing method disclosed in the Japanese Patent Publication Sho. 52-2421, the foam formed piece f is manufacturing in such process. With the forming die c used in this manufacturing method, since the four endless belts b for composing the forming passage d are of fixed type, to change the cross sectional shape of the foam formed piece f (to change the cross sectional slender ratio), it was necessary to disassemble the constituent members including the upper, lower, right and left rollers g of the forming passage d and endless belts b, exchange the constituent members so as to compose a desired shape of the foam formed piece, and reassemble the forming passage, which was a great demerit.
To solve this problem, for example, a manufacturing apparatus as disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model Publication Sho. 59-36415 was developed. In this apparatus, essentially, as shown in FIG. 19 , four endless belts b are disposed in a mutually confronting manner at specific intervals so as to compose upper, lower, right and left sides, and a forming passage d of a square cross section is constructed. The endless belts b for composing the upper and lower sides of the forming passage d are defined in the movement in the upper direction and lower direction by rollers g disposed along the longitudinal direction of the forming passage d, so that the interval of the upper side and lower side of the forming passage d is always fixed at a specific gap.
On the other hand, the right and left sides of the forming passage d composed of the endless belts b are laid out so as to be held between the endless belts b composing the upper side and lower side. On the back side of the endless belts b (made of steel) for the right and left sides, a side frame i having a permanent magnet h, and a bearing j for supporting the side frame i are disposed so that the both endless belts b may not collapse into the passage d in the manufacturing process of the foam formed piece.
The essential parts of the manufacturing apparatus disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model Publication Sho. 59-36415 are composed as described above. However, in this apparatus, the dimension in the widthwise direction of the foam formed piece to be formed can be freely changed by moving the endless belts b forming the both side surfaces, but the interval for forming the thicknesswise direction of the foam formed piece is constant in its structure, and therefore when changing, it was necessary to disassemble the endless belts b of both sides, replace the right and left sides with endless belts of desired width, and reassemble the forming passage d.
Such modification required many parts to be changed, and took much manpower in replacement and adjustment, and needed a long working time. Furthermore, the facility expense was enormous, and a wide storing space for replacement parts was needed, among other problems.
The invention was developed in the light of such background, and it is hence a primary object thereof to present a continuous manufacturing method of formed piece capable of changing the size of the cross section of the forming passage by simple operation, forming a formed piece of a desired sectional shape easily and efficiently, and preventing leak of resin solution from the forming passage, and its apparatus. Summary of the Invention
To achieve the above object, the invention is composed as follows. That is, the invention presents a formed piece continuous manufacturing apparatus characterized by disposing four endless belts parallel, filling a forming passage enclosed and formed by these four endless belts with material, and forming the material continuously in a slender formed piece along with the progress of the endless belts, wherein one end of each endless belt in the longitudinal direction slidably abuts against the specified inner surface of each endless belt, at least three endless belts are movably supported by each movable means, and the sectional shape of the forming passage is freely controlled by arbitrarily moving at least two of the three endless belts.
In the formed piece continuous manufacturing apparatus, one of the four endless belts composing the forming passage is fixed, the other three endless belts are provided with movable means, and these three endless belts are arbitrarily moved by the moving means, thereby composing the forming passage in a desired sectional shape.
In the formed piece continuous manufacturing apparatus, moreover, the lower side endless belt is fixed, among the four endless belts for composing the forming passage, and the upper side and right side and left side endless belts are provided with movable means so as to be mobile, and by each moving means, the upper side endless belt can be moved in the vertical and lateral directions, one lateral side endless belt having one end in the longitudinal direction contacting with the inner surface of the lower side endless belt can be moved in the lateral direction, while the other lateral side endless belt can be moved in the vertical direction, thereby composing arbitrarily the forming passage in a desired sectional shape.
Further, in the formed piece continuous manufacturing apparatus, a belt constraining jig is disposed at the end of each endless belt not contacting with the other endless belts, so that each endless belt may be pressed against the other contacting endless belt side.
Besides, at the inner side of the forming passage composed by the four endless belts, a sealing member is disposed along the longitudinal direction, at one end of each endless belt disposed movable on the inner surface of the other endless belts.
Or, at the inner side of the forming passage composed by the four endless belts, along the longitudinal direction of the one end of each endless belt disposed slidably on the inner surface of the other endless belts, a thread piece feeding device is installed so as to feed a thread piece for sealing the gap between the end of the endless belt and the upper side of the other endless belts.
The invention also relates to a continuous manufacturing method of fiber reinforced foam resin formed piece, using the forced piece continuous manufacturing apparatus wherein the forming passage is filled with a reinforcing material impregnated with a foam-curing resin solution, and the foam-curing resin solution is foamed and cured in the running process of the endless belts, thereby manufacturing a slender formed piece in a desired sectional shape.
In such constitution, by moving the endless belts by manipulating each movable means so as to compose a desired sectional shape, for example, a sectional shape with desired vertical and lateral dimensions in a sectional shape of rectangle, square or the like, the sectional shape (vertical and lateral dimensions) of the forming section composed by the four endless belts can be set, and by continuously passing the reinforcing material impregnated with a foam-curing resin solution in this forming passage, and foaming and curing the foam-curing resin solution in this process, a slender formed piece of a desired sectional shape can be manufactured by simple moving manipulation of the endless belts.
Still more, by putting a sealing member in the gap at the end portion of each endless belt for composing the forming passage, when the forming passage is filled with material such as foam-curing resin solution, a foam pressure of 3 to 5 kg/cm is applied to the inner surface of the forming passage at the time of foaming, and the sealing member is pressed to stop the gap between endless belts, thereby preventing running of burr.
When the thread form feeding device is installed, moreover, by the foaming pressure of the material such as foam-curing resin solution filling up the forming passage for continuously manufacturing slender formed pieces, the thread piece supplied from the thread piece feeding device is pressed against the gap of endless belts to seal the gap, thereby preventing running of burr.